Was DBGT canon during its original airing?

[Psajdak]

Or was it just a thing which fans of series developed over the years because DBGT was anime only?

- even though I sort of took a glimpse into DBGT in early 2000s with games like Budokai 3, and Final Bout, it wasn't until 2006 when I got Internet in my house that I started to learn more about "post Vegeta vs Zarbon first round" stuff...

For some reason at that time they never showed episodes past that one which ends with Zarbon saying something about his hidden power; by that time though, everyone was already talking about DBGT as the worst anime in history.

I only properly watched it during my big DB marathon a few years ago, and it was at very least fine.

- btw, one more thing that I HAVE to say, in Budokai 3, there is one part where after after getting a Super Saiyan 4 for Vegeta you get a chance to face Super Saiyan 4 Goku in final proper duel, and of course beat him.
One of the best, and conclusive moments for Vegeta that I ever experienced.

[Matches Malone]

Yes, it was the only official product that followed the events of Z back then up until 2013's BOG movie.

[KBABZ]

I mean, Dragon Ball even back then had a VERY loose idea of what canon was because everyone just ignores it.

But I feel that the spirit of your question is "Was GT considered the official continuation of Z?" and I feel that answer is firmly yes. It started the week after Z ended in the same exact timeslot with the same cast and production teams, just like the rebrand from DB to Z. About the only person who didn't carry over was Kikuchi!

[Sin]

i know your question pertains to the original airing, but it feels like even during the 90s/00s western syndication that GT was a 'canon' sequel at least to anybody who hadn't really looked in-depth. Maybe that was true up until the advent of easy to access info on the internet, that was definitely the case for me. It probably depends on age and/of interest in the original manga/show, I imagine certain old school fans would have felt the same way toward GT as we do now.

[WittyUsername]

I don’t think Toei ever had a strict idea of “canon” to begin with, considering that characters like Garlic Jr. and Hire Dragon were imported over to the anime. Still, to answer your question, I believe the intention behind DBGT was indeed for it to be seen as the continuation of Goku’s story, rather than some irrelevant side story like the movies.

With that said, even back in the pre-BoG days, I remember that a number of fans declared the show to be non-canon, due to not being written by Toriyama, and having some perceived plot holes/inconsistencies. Ironically, I remember that one of the talking points about how the show couldn’t be canon was that the Pilaf gang was still alive, even though they should’ve been killed by Boo and supposedly shouldn’t have been brought back due to being evil.

[Grimlock]

They never stated what is canonical and what isn't, so we don't actually know the answer to that question.

Regardless, Dragon Ball GT is still one of the sequels (the other being Dragon Ball Online, obviously) of the series, more specifically, the anime, that happens to take place in another dimension. That much was never changed.

[Goten_jr]

of course not but it still was and is the official sequel to the DBZ Anime it is as much canon as the filler episodes/Movies but the difference is GT was produced as a legitimate continuation and gave Dragonball an ending in Anime form for a long time the movies and fillers are just produced as little side storys.
so did i see gt as a legitimate Sequel to the anime ? yes
did i see it canoncial to toriyamas manga? no

[UpFromTheSkies]

When it released in 96 we knew it wasn't written by Toriyama and it wasn't canon. I don't recall anyone complaining about it back then like they do now, the Dragon Ball fans that I knew were just happy for more Dragon Ball.

[ArmenianPepsi]

Back in '97 when it first aired? Yes it was. It was conceived, developed, and marketed as the direct anime-only continuation of DBZ. It is canon to the original anime timeline.

Now this will be pure opinion and from me, so take it as you will. With BoG + Super in the mix. I do not think that's the case anymore. GT only fits well in the context of a pre-BoG Dragon Ball. There are plenty of things in Super that make fitting GT into the current anime timeline difficult to do, if not out-right impossible.

[KBABZ]

With that said, even back in the pre-BoG days, I remember that a number of fans declared the show to be non-canon, due to not being written by Toriyama, and having some perceived plot holes/inconsistencies. Ironically, I remember that one of the talking points about how the show couldn’t be canon was that the Pilaf gang was still alive, even though they should’ve been killed by Boo and supposedly shouldn’t have been brought back due to being evil.

Even back in the day when I wasn't paying attention to Z or GT I got the feeling that folks didn't like GT and would have preferred it didn't exist, which would definitely have fueled a look for reasons to declare it non-canon.

Now this will be pure opinion and from me, so take it as you will. With BoG + Super in the mix. I do not think that's the case anymore. GT only fits well in the context of a pre-BoG Dragon Ball. There are plenty of things in Super that make fitting GT into the current anime timeline difficult to do, if not out-right impossible.

I'm of this outlook as well. I've said this many times before, but GT to me is part of a "Classic Anime" continuity that is DB > Z > GT, whereas Super is the "Modern Anime" continuity that's DB > Kai (with bits of Z) > Super.

[emperior]

They never stated what is canonical and what isn't, so we don't actually know the answer to that question.

Regardless, Dragon Ball GT is still one of the sequels (the other being Dragon Ball Online, obviously) of the series, more specifically, the anime, that happens to take place in another dimension. That much was never changed.

Actually they did a while back at a Tokyo event which confirmed Super as the official canonical sequel of the original manga.

I agree that GT happens in “another dimension” which is basically same as saying it is a spin-off, it is not canonical and thus it won’t ever have an impact on the future stories/movies which continue the original manga.

That doesn’t mean GT is bad, unofficial or that we should act like it never happened. But as far as the main story is concerned, it actually never happens and cannot happen after the events of Super.

Dragon Ball Online is, in my opinion, quite a different thing than GT. Considering how right now I believe nothing invalidates the tiny bit of lore here and there in the game, it could be in a sort of “canonical until proven otherwise” or “semi canonical” status.

Also it ignored GT in the first place and Toriyama collaborated on it and gave some ideas, so it’s possible that many of those ideas will be reused.

[Jord]

Back in '97 when it first aired? Yes it was. It was conceived, developed, and marketed as the direct anime-only continuation of DBZ. It is canon to the original anime timeline.

Now this will be pure opinion and from me, so take it as you will. With BoG + Super in the mix. I do not think that's the case anymore. GT only fits well in the context of a pre-BoG Dragon Ball. There are plenty of things in Super that make fitting GT into the current anime timeline difficult to do, if not out-right impossible.

The problem is that Super itself doesn't even fit in Z's canon so in order to make a logical time line you would have to exclude Super as well.

[TobyS]

Back in '97 when it first aired? Yes it was. It was conceived, developed, and marketed as the direct anime-only continuation of DBZ. It is canon to the original anime timeline.

Now this will be pure opinion and from me, so take it as you will. With BoG + Super in the mix. I do not think that's the case anymore. GT only fits well in the context of a pre-BoG Dragon Ball. There are plenty of things in Super that make fitting GT into the current anime timeline difficult to do, if not out-right impossible.

The problem is that Super itself doesn't even fit in Z's canon so in order to make a logical time line you would have to exclude Super as well.

Just one line about Bulma saying she hasn't seen him for five years?
What else?

[precita]

Most people didn't consider anything outside the manga canon. Toriyama ended the manga with the Boo arc.

Even back in the day people would viciously argue all filler scenes or filler episodes were non-canon and anything that didn't happen in the manga "could not be taken seriously." You guys should have seen the debates of hardcore manga fans back in the day, they would literally post angry rants of ANY of the animes filler episodes or scenes and talk about how terrible they were.

[DBPirate]

I really don't think that Dragon Ball has any sort of concept of canon. However, GT featured characters from the movies, which as far as I'm aware, were fairly explicitly outside of the manga's continuity, so if GT was "canon" to anything, it was just Z.

[Grimlock]

Actually they did a while back at a Tokyo event which confirmed Super as the official canonical sequel of the original manga.

Dragon Ball Super is a midquel. At any rate, even if we take whatever that event said, it still doesn't say anything about the other works (hell, it doesn't even clarify which continuity of Dragon Ball Super itself is to be taken into consideration). And then there are the movies, which are obviously part of the equation (then again, the movies are by Toriyama himself, so in theory there shouldn't be discussion about it).

Establishing canon is an organized thing, addressing as much as possible.

I agree that GT happens in “another dimension” which is basically same as saying it is a spin-off, it is not canonical and thus it won’t ever have an impact on the future stories/movies which continue the original manga.

That doesn’t mean GT is bad, unofficial or that we should act like it never happened. But as far as the main story is concerned, it actually never happens and cannot happen after the events of Super.

That's not what spin-off means but anyway. An encounter between the Dragon Ball GT/movies characters and the "manga characters" is what should happen in modern Dragon Ball. It's high time they addressed, in-universe, the existence of this another dimension and make some sort of "crossover". It is a lot more interesting this concept than wasting time with retellings and tournaments.

All the resources to come up with a scenario like this is there. It's just a matter of doing. It's the hot topic of the moment thanks to Marvel, and they seem to want to please the Western audience (see Broly), so just do it already.

Dragon Ball Online is, in my opinion, quite a different thing than GT. Considering how right now I believe nothing invalidates the tiny bit of lore here and there in the game, it could be in a sort of “canonical until proven otherwise” or “semi canonical” status.

Also it ignored GT in the first place and Toriyama collaborated on it and gave some ideas, so it’s possible that many of those ideas will be reused.

Yeah, the only similarity between them is just that they are both sequels. That's why I mentioned it.

[Hellspawn28]

Back in '97 when it first aired? Yes it was. It was conceived, developed, and marketed as the direct anime-only continuation of DBZ. It is canon to the original anime timeline.

Now this will be pure opinion and from me, so take it as you will. With BoG + Super in the mix. I do not think that's the case anymore. GT only fits well in the context of a pre-BoG Dragon Ball. There are plenty of things in Super that make fitting GT into the current anime timeline difficult to do, if not out-right impossible.

The problem is that Super itself doesn't even fit in Z's canon so in order to make a logical time line you would have to exclude Super as well.

Just one line about Bulma saying she hasn't seen him for five years?
What else?

Goku saying that Buu is the strongest opponent that he has fought is one of them too. I consider the DB manga, Super, and GT to be their own continuity.

[Jord]

The problem is that Super itself doesn't even fit in Z's canon so in order to make a logical time line you would have to exclude Super as well.

Just one line about Bulma saying she hasn't seen him for five years?
What else?

Goku saying that Buu is the strongest opponent that he has fought is one of them too. I consider the DB manga, Super, and GT to be their own continuity.

Yeah. It also doesn't make sense that in the time Super takes place we don't see Goten or Trunks age, especially considering how we saw Gohan and Goku age.

Your line about continuities is probably the best way to go although for me, the anime DB-Z-Gt is one continuity since it was also produced in that regard.
Midquels are always tricky in that regard since you can't change too much, since the "future" is already written. Really, Super would have benefitted more from taking place at the End of Z. You could then either go wild with a new continuity or have a Z-Super-GT story since there is a lot of space (and aging) between the end of Z and GT so you can actually have some growth with the characters.